The one big constant of Pakistan, India foreign policy has been the Kashmir dispute. Both countries have fought wars over the issue; and as the current circumstances indicate, both countries find little reason not to do this again. What has happened so far should be viewed as implementation stage in the two countries' foreign policy.

Implementing foreign policy is all about finally choosing an instrument of power to reach out into an environment where the clash of wills between the actors takes place. India finally chose to use the military as an instrument of power, but will it be able to control the environment, and manipulate the context? India is not using power just as a means to an end; it is using power as a context.

Contextual power is the power that frames an actor, whether an individual or a state. The circumstances that frame Pakistan in the current event are all built around the Indian accusations that Pakistan is not just involved in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam but also in previous such attacks at many other places in India.

What makes the context real or unreal is how it is perceived. The Indian context is based on an Indian perspective; the Pakistani perspective is that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism. This is a different interpretation of the same position, and the big challenge that Pakistani policymakers face is to convince the international audience to take an unbiased position on the interplay between the two actors in the conflict, and in this context.

The Indian preference for framing Pakistan is worthless if it is not supported by evidence of Pakistani involvement. Not the domestic Indian audience, but it is the international audience and........

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